Charity of the week: The Blacksmith Institute

The Blacksmith Institute (BlacksmithInstitute.org) works in the most environmentally compromised areas of the developing world, where life-threatening pollution affects the health of more than 100 million people, especially children. Since its foundation in 1999, Blacksmith has completed more than 50 cleanup projects in 21 countries, working with locals to assess damage, remove industrial wastes, and develop strategies to prevent further pollution. In recent years, Blacksmith used earthworms to eat toxic heavy metals in the soil of Kanpur, India; taught gold miners in Indonesia how to reduce their mercury emissions; and installed water filters in schools in Kyrgyzstan, where the water supply was contaminated by radioactive waste from an old uranium mine.

Each charity we feature has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which ranks not-for-profit organizations on the strength of their finances, their control of administrative and fundraising expenses, and the transparency of their operations. Four stars is the group’s highest ranking.

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